Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on ophthalmology conferences
Reviewed by Sofia Rokerya

The Covid-19 pandemic encouraged the transition to telehealth and virtual platforms in ophthalmology conferences. This cross-sectional study analysed data from five US-based ophthalmology conference organisations. Conference meetings were categorised as in-person, virtual or hybrid. Data included total attendance, trainee participation, research submissions and acceptance rates for 3 consecutive years from 2019 to 2021. Fifteen conference meetings were analysed in total: 7 in person, 5 virtual and 3 hybrid events. Conferences represented diverse subspecialties: glaucoma, cataract/anterior segment, oculofacial plastics, neuro-ophthalmology and women’s ophthalmology. The results showed that conferences integrating a virtual component experienced a 7% increase in total attendance. There was a 28% rise in trainee attendance. Research submissions cumulatively increased by 31%, while research acceptances varied: an increase of 6.3% in 2020 followed by a decline in 2021. This shows that virtual platforms not only had an overall positive impact on ophthalmology conference attendance but also served to enhance trainee engagement and participation during the Covid-19 pandemic. These conferences may have helped in overall research dissemination but showed variability in research acceptance and attendance. Further research is required to fully understand the factors driving these trends, and this may include a broader study and comparison with international conferences in ophthalmology and other medical specialities. Future studies also need to explore specific barriers to attendance and the efficacy of hybrid versus in-person models. Limitations include limited parameters assessed, variability in baseline conference sizes and lack of comparison to conferences in other countries and other medical fields.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ophthalmology conferences.
Schmuter G, Kolomeyer NN, Nijm LM, et al.
OPHTHALMOLOGICA 
2025;248:332–6.